Last year I began experimenting with different techniques for rigging baits. I do a lot of drifting and trolling for channel cats and I wanted to try different ways to present drifted baits to see if I could improve my catch rates. I bought a video on drifting for channel cats on Santee Cooper Reservoir and the guide there was using a method that was very effective for him and his clients. He was using white perch for bait and they were about 5 to 6 inches long. He would thread a complete perch on his leader so that the line passed completely through the bait and when done the hook was located near the tail of the fish. When he drifted his bait it was going through the water in a natural head first position and the hook rode near the tail of the bait. He claimed that as the bait drifted through the water it would emit a scent trail that the channel cats would pick up and then they would track from behind the fish following the scent trail. In most cases the cats would take the bait from behind and he wanted his hook positioned so that the first thing the cat encountered was the hook.
His technique for hooking up his bait was to run the hook through the mouth and out the side of the fish. He would then just take the hook and reenter the bait through the same hole and just move down the fish going in and out of the fish in each new hole. He was very careful not to hook his leader as he reentered the bait at each hole so that he didn’t tangle the leader. When he reached the tail of the bait he would then just pull the leader tight at the mouth of the fish and snug the hook up into the bait near the tail being careful that the hook was free and not imbedded into the bait.
I used this bait presentation technique last year when drifting and then I started to use it when presenting bait using a standard slip rig presentation. I found this to be a very effective way of presenting bait with a slip rig. If I was using bullheads, suckers or creek chubs my hookup rates were excellent. When using bullheads it got a little tricky because their sharp spines were difficult to work around as I threaded the leader through the fish. One day I was in Walmart and saw a crochet hook and my idea light immediately lit up. I bought a couple of different size crochet hooks and the next time I was out I gave it a try and bingo – quick and easy bait thread tool. Just take the crochet hook and inset it down the mouth of the bait and out the butt hole
hook the leader loop on the end of the crochet hook and pull it up and out of the mouth of the bait. Snug up the leader so the hook rides up into the bait and you are ready to go.
What is nice about this bait rigging technique is that you seldom lose a bait.. You won’t cast it off and if a fish hits and misses you can count on the bait still being there so wait a little bit and he will be back. I’ve used live bait doing this and the bait stays alive for some time so you still get the vibration and noise you are looking for besides the scent trail from the bait rigging. I attached a few photos so you can see the rigging technique – it is pretty simple and easy. Give it a try this summer and see if it works for you.
